Warning: Details in this article are disturbing and may be upsetting to readers

Two Missouri parents are facing dozens of charges of child abuse after their 8-year-old daughter said she had been beaten, abused, and belittled by her own parents.

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According to court documents, father Joseph Gorham, 30, and mother Tiffany Gorham, 28, of Lawson, have each been charged with 26 counts of abuse or neglect of a child.

The investigation into the pair started back in March after a call was made to the Missouri Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline regarding the treatment of the couple's 8-year-old daughter.

When the girl was interviewed in April, she said her mom and dad used to love her, but after her brother was born, her parents started being less nice.

The girl said when she was 5 or 6 years old, "bad stuff started happening." She said her parents started to fight, they blamed her for their problems, and told her they didn't like being around her because she was ruining their family.

Charging documents said the girl told authorities her parents would hit her. The physical abuse started with hands, but eventually escalated to cords, belts, switches, the plastic tubing for a vacuum cleaner, and finally, boards or wooden paddles that her dad drilled holes into.

The girl said while one parent would hit her, the other would hold her down.

Those beatings left bruises, which prompted the girl's paternal grandmother to take photos of her injuries, and show them to staff at Children's Mercy Hospital in April.

Documents state the girl was also subjected to emotional and psychological abuse along with medical and dental neglect.

At one point, the girl said she would kill herself if she had to go back to her parents because she couldn't live like that anymore.

The girl also said she missed school a lot because her parents wanted to keep her bruises hidden, and she feared DFS finding out, because after DFS contacted her parents, "The beatings were always much worse."

During an interview with the girl's brother earlier this month, the boy said both he and his sister were spanked a lot, and were threatened with more spankings if they told anyone.

The boy said he saw when his father hit his sister with a black vacuum stick.

The boy also said his sister had to eat all of her meals before a timer went off, and had to do the same with dishes. If she didn't eat, or clean in the allotted time, she was beaten, or forced to run in the hall.

If she got sick, she was forced to wear her vomit-covered clothing, and clean up her own vomit.

Family members told police that her father made the little girl go outside at night to feed the dogs after telling her there was a cougar, or bad people stalking them in the woods behind their house. They threatened to send the girl to boarding school. And they convinced the girl that if there was ever a zombie apocalypse, they would leave her behind while taking her brothers someplace safe. A cruel Christmas was also reported where the girl got only socks, underwear and pajamas while her siblings each got eight more elaborate gifts.

Family said the girl suffered verbal abuse as well. She was reportedly called "retarded, ignorant, moron, stupid, and brain dead." Documents say she was also referred to as "Autism" instead of her first name. They told the girl that "Autism is an extremely stupid, brain-dead person."

Tiffany was arraigned Tuesday. A $100,000 bond has been requested in her case. Joseph is scheduled to appear in court in June. He was originally served with charges last week. He pleaded not guilty to all 26 charges.